The Kitchen (2019 film)
| writer = Andrea Berloff | based on = | starring = | music = Bryce Dessner | cinematography = Maryse Alberti | editing = Christopher Tellefsen | studio = | distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures | released = | runtime = 103 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $38 million | gross = $15.8 million }} The Kitchen is a 2019 American crime film written and directed by Andrea Berloff in her directorial debut. It is based on the Vertigo comic book miniseries of the same name by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. The film stars an ensemble cast, led by Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss as the wives of Irish mobsters, who take over organized crime operations in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the late 1970s, after the FBI arrests their husbands. The film also features Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Brian d'Arcy James, Jeremy Bobb, Margo Martindale, Common, and Bill Camp in supporting roles. Produced by New Line Cinema, Bron Creative, and Michael De Luca Productions, the film was theatrically released in the United States on August 9, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, who criticized the convoluted plot, and grossed $15 million against its $38 million budget. Plot In Hell's Kitchen 1978, three middle-aged women are married to members of the Irish mob, Kathy Brennan and her reluctant but kind husband Jimmy have two children: a son and daughter, African-American Ruby O’Carroll is married to her husband Kevin, the son of Helen O'Carroll and heir to the mob empire and the timid Claire Walsh is married to her husband Rob, who in turn is verbally and physically abusive towards her. One night, while Jimmy, Rob and Kevin are robbing a convenience store, FBI Agent Gary Silvers and his partner Gonzalo Martinez, who have been trailing the trio, bust them, leading the men to be sentenced to three years in prison. While Kevin is in prison, Little Jackie, a member of the mob, becomes head. Jackie tells the three wives that he will ensure their financial comfort, but, gives them each a tiny pittance. Frustrated, Kathy can barely afford to feed her children or apply for a new job. Claire, who volunteers at a homeless shelter, is viciously attacked by a junkie, traumatizing her. The three women, in turn, ask Jackie for more wages but he viciously denies them. Shortly thereafter, the women are told that, despite all the local businesses paying protection fees to the mob, they have seen very little results under Little Jackie. Kathy, Ruby and Claire seize the opening, using Kathy's cousin Duffy and his friend Burns as enforcers. The women begin collecting protection fees and helping out the neighborhood, making a huge profit and becoming beloved in the community. When Jackie finds out, he has his enforcers severely beat Duffy and Burns, who try to end their association with the women but the three declare that they are now in charge. The next morning, while Claire is taking out the trash, Jackie assaults her but is shot in the head by Gabriel O’Malley, a former Irish mob enforcer and war veteran who had been in hiding until Ruby called him. Gabriel, having always loved Claire, shows the women how to dispose of a body and, with Jackie out of the way, the women begin running the neighborhood, with Gabriel acting as their chief enforcer. Gabriel and Claire begin a relationship, and Gabriel teaches Claire how to kill, leading them to track down the junkie who attacked Claire and murder him. When local workers complain that they are not getting the construction contracts on buildings being built nearby, the women promise to correct this situation where they meet up with a rabbi who is in charge of the property. Unfortunately, he refuses to hire union workers until the women offer him protection. The rabbi explains that he already pays protection to and Italian mafia in Brooklyn, with the women arranging for him to be intimidated until he relents. Both women are ordered to meet with Alfonso Coretti, the head of the mafia, who is furious that they have taken business from him. But Coretti recognizes that they have power, and cuts a deal with them: some of his Italian men work on the site too, and the women will kick back some of their profits – but they refuse at first, until Coretti tells them that he has made arrangements for the women's husbands to be released on parole, knowing that when the husbands return, the women's place in power will be threatened, and he will support and protect the women. Realizing he's right, the women agree. In exchange, Ruby demands more area of the city be under the women's control, and Coretti agrees. Before the husbands are set to be released, the women do everything they can to shore up their power. Ruby takes Helen out to dinner where she kills her by throwing Helen down a set of stairs, breaking her neck. When the husbands get out of prison, tensions rise. Kevin thinks he's still charge, Jimmy is concerned about leaving his life of crime, pressuring Kathy to quit, and Rob is furious to find that Claire has left him for Gabriel. When Rob tracks Claire down, she finds the strength to kill him; shooting Rob in the heart. In the aftermath of Rob's murder, the three women are summoned by Coretti, who tells them that he has heard that an open contract has been placed on them by members of their own gang. Kathy doesn't want to believe it, but Ruby offers them more wage and asks the mafia to kill Kevin and two other gangsters including a young member named Colin. A horrified Kathy ends up arguing with Jimmy, telling him she had nothing to do with the contract. The hit goes through but Colin ends up killing Claire when he breaks into her flat with Gabriel killing the latter. After Claire's funeral, things tense further between Ruby and Kathy with an angry Jimmy continuously begging Kathy to quit the business. While confronting Ruby, Kathy realizes that Ruby has been taking some of their collection money and paying off Silvers to keep them out of trouble. Ruby explains that she kept them out of trouble, and in fact, set up their husbands to be caught on the night they were originally arrested. Ruby knew that with the husbands gone, there would be an opening for her in New York to take up power as a black woman. Ruby even had Silvers murder Gonzalez to protect them, and she's been gaining more and more territory of the city. When Kathy goes to pick up her children, she finds they that they have been taken against her will to Coretti. Upon finding out that Jimmy had brought them there and still wants out of the business, a furious Kathy has the mafia execute him. At Jimmy's funeral, Kathy's father, who has constantly been telling her how disappointed he is in her for getting involved with the mob, tells her he's proud of her protecting the children. Kathy, in return, says she did it all for herself. A while later, Ruby tells Kathy that a vendor hasn't been making daily payments for her and asks Kathy to meet her there. Kathy goes, finding out that Ruby is waiting with Gabriel to kill her but Kathy has brought all of the local Irishmen to back her up. Kathy tells Gabriel she loved Claire too, and Gabriel admits he only got back into this life because of Claire and leaves. With ties settled, Kathy and Ruby go on to be the most powerful women in New York City. Cast Production In February 2017, Andrea Berloff signed on to direct an adaptation of The Kitchen, a Vertigo comic book miniseries by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. Berloff had already been commissioned to write the screenplay for the film, but she impressed executives at New Line Cinema, the film's production company, with her "edgy and subversive" perspective. In November 2017, Tiffany Haddish, off of a breakthrough performance in Girls Trip, signed on as one of the film's three female leads. In February 2018, Melissa McCarthy came on board for another lead role, and in March 2018, Elisabeth Moss was cast as the last of the three leads, while Margo Martindale, Bill Camp, and Brian d'Arcy James were also added. In April 2018, Domhnall Gleeson, Common, James Badge Dale, Jeremy Bobb, and Alicia Coppola joined the cast, and in May 2018, James Ciccone was added as well. Coppola did not appear in the finished film. Principal photography began on May 7, 2018, in New York City, and wrapped in September 2018. Release The first official trailer for the film was released on May 30, 2019. The Kitchen was released on August 9, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures. Reception Box office In the United States and Canada, The Kitchen was released alongside Dora and the Lost City of Gold, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Brian Banks, and was projected to gross $9–14 million in its opening weekend. Playing at 2,742 theaters, it was the smallest wide release of McCarthy's career. After making $1.8 million on its first day, estimates were lowered to $5–6 million. The film ended up debuting to $5.5 million, the worst wide opening weekend of both McCarthy and Haddish's careers. The film dropped 60% in its second weekend to $2.2 million before being pulled from 2,125 theaters in its third and making just $342,506. The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film would lose "tens of millions" for the studio, although noted it could find success in home media. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 22% based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 4.46/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With three talented leads struggling to prop up a sagging story, The Kitchen is a jumbled crime thriller in urgent need of some heavy-duty renovation." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale. Variety s Owen Gleiberman described the film as "just like Widows, except not as good." Gleiberman was critical of the script but praised McCarthy's fierce performance, wished Tiffany Haddish had more to do, and that Margo Martindale had a bigger role. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote, "There's only one Scorsese, and he ain't here." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Speaking of female gangsters, no review of The Kitchen should overlook Margo Martindale, who steals every scene she’s in as a mob matriarch — a gravelly voiced monster with a gutter mouth and a big photo of John F. Kennedy on her wall. Martindale gets to be evil and has as much fun onscreen as she can without smiling." References External links * * Category:2019 films Category:2010s female buddy films Category:2010s action films Category:2010s crime drama films Category:2010s crime thriller films Category:American action films Category:American crime drama films Category:American crime thriller films Category:American female buddy films Category:Directorial debut films Category:English-language films Category:Films based on American comics Category:Films based on Vertigo titles Category:Films set in 1978 Category:Films set in Brooklyn Category:Films set in Manhattan Category:Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Category:Live-action films based on comics Category:Mafia films Category:New Line Cinema films Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Films about the Irish Mob Category:Films shot in New York City Category:Films based on DC Comics Category:American films Category:Films about criminals